It is a unique privilege to have been given the opportunity to serve as your president for 2023-2024. It has been a rewarding and interesting experience. There were a lot of successes but also a few challenges, as this is a human society. Many wonderful people in this club have great energy and help to create a better life for those in need in our local community and around the world. Over the years, I have served on and been involved with many community groups, but nowhere have I met people committed to community service than the members of this club.
I want to thank:
Our board for their commitment to the club, the donated time, and all their hard work to ensure we had a successful year.
Our committees and committee chairs for doing the actual work of the club.
Our club members rise to the occasion when called upon. Your ongoing support of club initiatives is second to none.
The RibFest committee for putting in a lot of time and effort to plan our major fundraiser event for the year.
My New Year message, among other things, was to engage and create an impact. I am glad to say that we have seen a high level of engagement among club members through the various hands-on events. I am not going to try to highlight all our accomplishments for the year, but there is one that must be mentioned: our environmental sub-committee. This was a phenomenal success, with better execution of events throughout the year, the most recent being the planting of 1000 trees—great work by the chair, Danielle Lemieux. You have the club’s full support.
You should all be very pleased with what we as a club accomplished this year. I salute the members of the Rotary Club of Halifax Harbour.
To Dav and his incoming board: I wish you well in the year ahead. You have a lot of work to do to continue figuring out the fundraising file. Good luck. Fortunately, you have a strong and talented board and have the full support of the club.
In closing, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as your president. My main personal goal in this role was for us all to have fun together while supporting the things that matter to members. I think we came pretty close.
Godfred Chongatera
RCHH President, 2023-2024
